... oh s***! One vendor accidently sent only half of the required tea (both selections).

Good news, bad news ... I caught the error today before opening up any of the teas (for weighing and packaging, etc) so they are still sealed (and will remain sealed) ... bad news, although the teas are likely shipped as of this posting, it will likely not arrive until Friday (fingers crossed).

Good news, this should only delay shipping to participants by two days! That is assuming everything goes according to ammended plans.

Chip, glad you were able to work out the orders. I'm really looking forward to this sincha OTTI. I have plenty of 2013 sinchas in the refrigerator and cupboard now, but don't want to open more than a few because they will loose their freshness before too long after opening. With the Otti samples we can casually try a variety of different totally fresh teas without worrying if they will oxidize before finishing them. Nice. Thanks for doing this.

As of around 10 am, Shincha-OTTI is enroute to destinations all over, literally.

In the next day or so I will be posting brewing suggestions for this round. I strongly encourage participants to view vendors suggestions and then mine. This is not a slam dunk brew round! Thus blind tasting will be virtually impossible. You will want to know exactly what you are brewing.

With one chime of the doorbell I went from having a scant one session of Japanese greens left to having a wealth of choices. The postman just delivered my full set of OTTI Shincha as well as 2 bags of Karigane from o-Cha.

JRS22 wrote:With one chime of the doorbell I went from having a scant one session of Japanese greens left to having a wealth of choices. The postman just delivered my full set of OTTI Shincha as well as 2 bags of Karigane from o-Cha.

WooHoo!!!! Looks like you may be the first to receive Shincha OTTI!

I will be posting brewing suggestions today, but first, tea! It has been a crazy morn here.

JRS22 wrote:With one chime of the doorbell I went from having a scant one session of Japanese greens left to having a wealth of choices. The postman just delivered my full set of OTTI Shincha as well as 2 bags of Karigane from o-Cha.

Try not to be overwhelmed ... take a deep breath and focus on one tea at a time versus trying to "know" all the brewing parameters for all the teas instantly, you will stress out at the tea table. Remember to enjoy your tea tasting!

I first suggest checking the vendor selections for their brewing suggestions. The links are on page 1 for easy reference.

And my suggestions ... these are not always "right." I noticed this year, that I leaned towards higher ratios and cooler brewing, generally speaking. I find this interesting.

Usually my sampling of around 20 + Shincha each year is spread out, a few at a time. This was quite a "head rush" endeavoring to offer my suggestions for 12 all at once. WHEW! Well a few are still "under construction" as I figure them out a bit more ... these selections are new to me.

Further confusion was caused by wild swings in ambient room temperature over the last week. I am coming to believe that this may effect results as much as water quality, however changes in ambient temp can be overcome by adjusting brewing temps.

Speaking of water quality, I suddenly noticed sub par results with Aquafina which had been giving me very good results for a while ... now just no discernable highs. So, I switched to Deer Park spring water. Why has water suddenly become so confusing to me when it never was before .......

More water, temps below are based upon not preheating. If you do preheat your pot, I would advise cooler temps.

11 Sugimoto Hashiri. "Under construction" check back later! This has been pretty mellow even when I tried to amp it up. Let me know how you make out!

12 O-Cha YM. OK, here was an exception to my trend this year in that I went hotter with this selection. 1.25:1, 172* (77* C) for 40+ seconds. I did not preheat, so if you do you may want to decrease temp a bit.

21 Sencha Kagoshima Sencha Super Premium. Although Zencha recommends 140*, I found this can be brewed somewhat hotter for a bit more boldness. I went as high as 160* (71* C) without ill effect, but liked it under 155 (68* C). 1.25 (or higher):1, 40-60 seconds ... as you decrease temp, increase time or the cup may not convey the richness intended.

22 The du Japon Yamakai "Under construction" check back later!

23 Maiko Karigani. "Under construction" check back later!

24 Zencha Takumi. 1.25:1 This one definitely prefers cooler! 140-150* (60-65* C). Not as easy for me to brew as their SSP (#21), so pay attention. 40-60 seconds.

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31 Kondo-wase. Pay attention! HOT! I concur with their suggestions of 185* (85* C) Cooler and it seems lost. Hot and it sings. 1.25:1. 70 seconds.

JRS22 wrote:With one chime of the doorbell I went from having a scant one session of Japanese greens left to having a wealth of choices. The postman just delivered my full set of OTTI Shincha as well as 2 bags of Karigane from o-Cha.

OTTI Shincha for me too! So many teas, where to begin

Just take it easy and enjoy! Thank you for posting that you received your teas!